‘08 Election
Obama and the War on Brains November 9, 2008
Nicholas D. Kristof: Obama and the war on brains
Obama the Intellectual
Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times
Complete Coverage of the 2008 Elections
Obama “Yes, We Can” Speech Ranked With “I have a Dream,” “Tear Down this Wall,” and JFK Inaugural
Austin, TX, USA November 7, 2008 – In an analysis completed earlier today, the Global Language Monitor has found that Barak Obama’s “Yes, We Can” speech delivered Tuesday night in Chicago’s Grant Park ranked favorably in tone, tenor and rhetorical flourishes with memorable political addresses of the recent past including Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I have a Dream” speech, “Tear Down his Wall,” by Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address. GLM, has been tracking the language used in the debates and speeches of the Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates throughout the bruising 2008 campaign. In nearly every category, from grade level to the use of passive voice, even the average numbers of letters in the words he chose, Obama’s Victory Speech was very similar in construction to the speeches of King, Reagan and Kennedy.
“As is appropriate for a forward-looking message of hope and reconciliation, words of change and hope, as well as future-related constructions dominated the address,” said Paul JJ Payack President and Chief Word Analyst of the Global Language Monitor. “Evidently, Obama is at his best at connecting with people at the 7th to 8th grade range, communicating directly to his audience using simple yet powerful rhetorical devices, such as the repetition of the cadenced phrase ‘Yes, we can’, which built to a powerful conclusion.”
Obama’s Victory Speech also was similar in construction to his 2004 Democratic Convention address, which first brought him to widespread national attention.
The statistical breakdown follows.
| Obama Victory Speech | Obama 2004 Convention | ||
| Words | 2049 | 2238 | |
| Sentences/Paragraph | 1.8 | 2 | |
| Words/Sentence | 18.9 | 20.0 | |
| Characters/Word | 4.2 | 4.3 | |
| Reading Ease | 72.4 | 67.5 | |
| Passive | 11% | 8% | |
| Grade Level | 7.4 | 8.3 |
For a future-oriented message of hope and vision the passive voice was used frequently but effectively.
Examples include: “There will be setbacks and false starts.
It was also noted that Obama spoke in the authoritative voice of the future Commander-in-Chief with such phrasings as, “To those who would tear the world down – We will defeat you.”
Some commentators noticed the absence of the collapse of the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers in the 2001 terrorist attacks from Obama’s catalogue of significant events of last 106 years.
Historical comparisons follow.
| Kennedy Inaugural Address | 10.8 |
| Reagan ‘Tear Down This Wall” | 9.8 |
| Lincoln “Gettysburg Address” | 9.1 |
| Martin Luther King: ”I have a dream” | 8.8 |
| Obama 2004 Democrat Convention | 8.3 |
| Obama Victory Speech “Yes, we can” | 7.4 |
‘Obama’ as a Word Enters English Language
‘Change’, ‘Cataclysmic Events,’ and ‘Global Financial Tsunami’ Dominate Top Ten Concerns of the American Electorate on Nov. 4, 2008
According to the Global Language Monitor’s Linguistic Analysis
Austin, TX, USA November 4, 2008 – In an analysis completed just hours before voting began for the 2008 the USPresidential Elections, Austin, Texas-based Global Language Monitor has found that ‘Change’, ‘‘Cataclysmic Events,’ and ‘Global Financial Tsunami’ related words and phrases dominate the Top Ten Concerns of the American Electorate on Nov. 4, 2008.
The results are based on an on-going 18-month analysis of the political language and buzzwords used throughout the presidential since before the primaries began. GLM’s uses its PQI Index, a proprietary algorithm that scours the global print and electronic media, the Internet, and blogosphere for ‘hot’ political buzzwords and then ranks them according to year-over-year change, acceleration and directional momentum. Political buzzwords are terms or phrases that become loaded with emotional freight beyond the normal meaning of the word.
Top Ten Concerns of the American Electorate on November 4, 2008.
1. Change is key. Change favors Obama over McCain 3:2.
2. Cataclysmic events, global warming and climate change rank higher than all other issues except change.
3. The Global Financial Tsunami and related terms permeate the Election and is that persistent low-humming heard in the background.
4. Experience counts. Experience favors McCain over Obama 4:3.
5. Concerns persist about Obama’s experience, background, and past and current associations.
6. Gender is ongoing issue: it began with Hillary and continues with Palin though it is disguised in all sorts of well-meaning platitudes.
7. For many in this campaign, gender actually trumps race.
8. For all the concern about race, it actually seems to be having a positive effect on the Obama campaign, in its an ongoing, just beneath the surface dialogue, with millions (both black and white) voting for Obama precisely BECAUSE he is a black man. This is viewed as separating us (and in some sense liberating us) from a long, painful history.
9. Working Class Whites IS used as a code word for whites who are working class. No other moniker, such as Reagan Democrats or Soccer Moms has caught on in this election cycle.
10. Obama, to his great credit, is no longer perceived as ‘aloof’.
What’s the advantage of the PQI over the Polls?
According to Paul JJ Payack, president and chief Word Analyst of the Global Language Monitor:
The PQI is, perhaps, the ultimate ‘It is what it is’ measurement of consumer (and in this case Political) sentiment. The PQI simply measures the occurrence of certain words or phrases in the print and electronic media (traditional or otherwise), on the Internet, and across the Blogosphere. It is by its very nature non-biased. When we take a statistical snapshot for the PQI there is no adjustment for ‘underrepresented’ groups, there are no assumptions about probability of turnout, the proportions of newly registered voters, traditional models, or expanded modularities. Rather we take our measurements, check for the rate of positive or negative change in the appearance of a searched word or phrase (what we call velocity and) and publish our results.
In other words, it is what it is.”
Using this methodology, GLM was the only media analytics organization that foresaw the ’04 electorate voting with their moral compasses rather than their pocketbooks.
The Top Political Buzzwords for the 2006 Midterm Elections included: Throes, Quagmire, Credibility, Global Warming, and Insurgency; the Top Political Buzzwords from the 2004 Campaign included: Swift Boats, Flip Flop, Quagmire, Fahrenheit 911, Misleader, and Liar!
Top 10 Things Political Buzzwords Tell Us About the Vote
Austin, TX, USA November 3, 2008 – In an analysis completed just 48 hours before the US Presidential Elections theGlobal Language Monitor has announced the final installment of the Top Political Buzzwords of the 2008 Presidential Campaign.
GLM, has been tracking the buzzwords in this election cycle for some eighteen months. Political buzzwords are terms or phrases that become loaded with emotional freight beyond the normal meaning of the word.
For example, the word surge has been in the English-language vocabulary since time immemorial. However, in its new context as an Iraq War strategy, it inspires a set of emotions in many people far beyond the norm.
The top findings follow, with the Top 30 Buzzwords following.
Listen to the Interview on WNYC/PRI
According to Paul JJ Payack, president and chief word analyst of Global Language Monitor:
1. The electorate appears to be more advanced in its thinking than either party (or platform). Taken as a whole their concerns center upon uncontrollable, cataclysmic events such as the global financial meltdown and climate change (Nos. 1 and 2), while raising taxes (No. 22) or cutting taxes (No. 27) are lesser (though still important) concerns.
2. The phrase ‘Financial Meltdown’ has broken into the Top 20, jumping some 2600% in usage over the last month.
3. Change is the topmost concern. Though change from what to what remains a good question. ‘Change’ is,without question the top word of this campaign. Both candidates are benefitting from the mantra; however Obama holds a 3:2 edge over McCain in this regard.
4. The second-most discussed term of the campaign barely surfaces in most media reports, and this is the combination of ‘Climate Change’ and/or ‘Global Warming’.
5. Experience (No. 5) counts. A lot. Especially, if that experience can serve as a guide through the current series of cataclysmic events. McCain edges Obama 4:3 in the experience category. But Obama is given significant credit as a quick (and judicious) study.
6. Everyone is talking about race (No. 16) except, apparently, the electorate. It is a Top Twenty issue, but it’s nestled between Joe the Plumber and Obama’s smoking.
7. Iraq is now a non-issue. No. 8, Surge,and its apparent success has settled the argument, so it is no longer a question of victory or defeat. Even Al Qaeda has lost its grip on the electorate, falling some 11 spots in two weeks.
8. Palin (Nos 14 and 21) is a ‘go-to’ subject for the media and campaigns alike, with both sides thinking they gain tremendous leverage in her disparagement or apotheosis.
9. Tony Rezko (No. 23), Acorn (No. 24) and Jeremiah Wright (No. 26) are indeed issues, but are viewed as minor, settled or both for the Obama campaign.
10. The word, aloof, as related to Obama is no longer on the list. At the end of the Primary season in June, it was No 14 and a major concern of the Obama campaign. Obama has apparently overcome this sense of aloofness.
The ranking of Top Election Buzzwords of the 2008 Presidential Campaign and commentary follow.
| Presidential Campaign PQI 11.2.08 | Comment | |
| Rank | ||
| 1 | Change | Obama has a 3:2 Edge over McCain with Change |
| 2 | Climate Change | Global warming within 1/2 of 1% for the overall lead |
| 3 | Gasoline | Up 2 this week as prices fall |
| 4 | Recession | Does a global financial meltdown count as a recession? |
| 5 | Experience | Down 2; McCain has 4:3 Edge Here |
| 6 | Obama Muslim | A continued presence in Cyberspace |
| 7 | Subprime | How we got into this mess in the first place |
| 8 | Surge | One of the Top Words from ‘07 now taking a victory lap |
| 9 | “That one” | Has spurred the Obama base with ‘I’m for That One’ slogans |
| 10 | “Just Words” | Oh Hillary, what hath thou wrought? |
| 11 | Gender | Up dramatically since fall campaign though down for week |
| 12 | Working Class Whites | Still the object of much affection AND derision |
| 13 | Price of oil | More discussion as price declines; up 5 |
| 14 | Palin Swimsuit | On SNL Alec Baldwin claimed Balin’s ‘way hotter in person’ |
| 15 | Joe the Plumber | Now making appearances with McCain; up 5 |
| 16 | Racism (election) | Belies all the media buzz; now in top 20 |
| 17 | Obama smoking | Down 5 but still in Top Twenty |
| 18 | Financial meltdown | Now buzzworthy, indeed. |
| 19 | Wall Street Bailout | As reality of global financial meltdown sets in, down 6 |
| 20 | Internet fundraising | Hangs in there as a hot buzzword at 20 |
| 21 | Lipstick | Drops dramatically over the last survey; down 10 |
| 22 | Raise taxes | Raise Taxes No 22; cut taxes No. 27. Ho Hum. |
| 23 | Rezko | Obama’s relationship with Tony Rezko gains one |
| 24 | Acorn Voter Reg | Loses a couple as interest apparently wanes |
| 25 | Al Qaeda election | Lurking beneath the surface but falls out of Top Twenty |
| 26 | Jeremiah Wright | Dr. Wright remains on the radar though falling five more spots |
| 27 | Cut taxes | Raise Taxes No 22; cut taxes No. 27. Ho Hum. |
| 28 | Hockey Mom | Causes headlines but not a top issue |
| 29 | Nuclear Iran | Drops one more spot since last survey |
| 30 | Wash Talking Heads | Not a good week for the Cognoscenti; down 15 |
The ranking is determined by GLM’s PQI Index, a proprietary algorithm that scours the global print and electronic media, the Internet, and blogosphere for ‘hot’ political buzzwords and then ranks them according to year-over-year change, acceleration and directional momentum. Using this methodology, GLM was the only media analytics organization that foresaw the ’04 electorate voting with their moral compasses rather than their pocketbooks.
The Top Political Buzzwords for the 2006 Midterm Elections included: Throes, Quagmire, Credibility, Global Warming, and Insurgency; the Top Political Buzzwords from the 2004 Campaign included: Swift Boats, Flip Flop, Quagmire, Fahrenheit 911, Misleader, and Liar!
The Final Debate: Obama & McCain Differ Sharply
Obama Doubles Use of Passive Voice Over McCain
Memorable quotes: ‘Joe the Plumber’; ‘I am not President Bush’
Austin, Texas, USA. October 16, 2008. In a linguistic analysis of the final Presidential Debate between Barack Obama and John McCain, the Global Language Monitor has found that in sharp contrast to prior debates, Obama’s use of the passive voice doubled that of McCain (and was significantly higher than he typically uses). The use of the passive voice is considered significant in political speech because audiences generally respond better to active voice, which they tend to view asmore direct. On a grade-level basis, Obama came in at 9.3 with McCain scoring grade level, while McCain came in at 7.4, a difference of nearly two grade levels.
The debate took place at Hofstra University, in Hempstead, New York.
The statistical breakdown follows.
| Obama | McCain | Difference | |
| Words | 7,146 | 6,562 | 584 |
| Words/Sentence | 19.4 | 15.2 | 4.2 |
| Sentences/Paragraph | 2.0 | 2.1 | 5% |
| Characters/Word | 4.4 | 4.4 | 0% |
| Passive Voice (%) | 6% | 3% | 100% |
| Reading Ease | 62.6 | 68.6 | 6 |
| Grade level | 9.3 | 7.4 | 1.9 |
Using industry-standard tools and techniques, GLM ranks the candidates’ speech on a number of levels from grade-reading level, the use of the passive voice, a reading ease score (the higher, the easiest to understand), the number of words per sentence, the number of characters per word, among others.
“Again, word choice and usage speaks volumes,” said Paul JJ Payack, GLM’s President & Chief Word Analyst. “Obama came in at a higher grade level than his previous efforts, but McCain was somewhat easier to understand. Obama’s significantly higher use of the passive voice combined with his frequent use of the word ‘I’ perhaps indicated an impatience with his opponent last witnessed in his debates with Hillary Clinton.”
Read: L’Histoire’s La Langue des Campagnes
Obama used the personal pronoun, ‘I’ about 158 times in the debate, while McCain used the word some 119 times.
Memorable phrases include more than a dozen references to ‘Joe the Plumber,’ one Joe Wurzelbacher of Holland, Ohio, and John McCain’s ‘I am not President Bush’ retort to Sen. Obama’s attempt to link his policies to those of the current president.
Obama the Intellectual
Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times
For comparison purposes, here are the results last week’s Town-hall style debate. That debate was notable in the fact that the questions asked by the audience outdistanced both Obama and McCain in the grade-level ranking category. Perhaps, the most memorable phrase from that debate is perhaps ‘’That one!” the term McCain used to refer to Obama. “That One” has already joined GLM’s analysis of the Top Political Buzzwords of the 2008 Campaign.
| Obama | McCain | Difference | |
| Words | 7,146 | 6,562 | 584 |
| Words/Sentence | 19.4 | 15.2 | 4.2 |
| Sentences/Paragraph | 2.0 | 2.1 | 5% |
| Characters/Word | 4.4 | 4.4 | 0% |
| Passive Voice (%) | 6% | 3% | 100% |
| Reading Ease | 62.6 | 68.6 | 6 |
| Grade level | 9.3 | 7.4 | 1.9 |
Top Buzzwords of Presidential Campaign: Two Weeks Out
Change, Climate Change & Bailout atop Political Buzzword List With Three Weeks Remaining
‘Gender’ trumps ‘Race’, Experience Issue for both; Obama Muslim rumors persist
Austin, TX, USA October 13, 2008 - In an analysis completed just weeks before the US Presidential Elections, the Global Language Monitor has announced that Change, Climate Change & Bailout stood atop the Top Political Buzzwords List released earlier today. It also found that ‘Gender’ now trumps ‘Race’, while questions about ‘experience’ remain an issue for both parties with Obama receiving 2.4 times more citations than Palin. The analysis also determined that frequently discounted Obama Muslim-related rumors continue to persist, actually moving up on the chart.
Political buzzwords are terms or phrases that become loaded with emotional freight beyond the normal meaning of the word. For example, the word surge has been in the English-language vocabulary since time immemorial. However, in its new context as an Iraq War strategy, it inspires a set of emotions in many people far beyond the norm.
The ranking is determined by GLM’s PQI Index, a proprietary algorithm that scours the global print and electronic media, the Internet, and blogosphere for ‘hot’ political buzzwords and then ranks them according to year-over-year change, acceleration and directional momentum. Using this methodology, GLM was the only media analytics organization that foresaw the ‘04 electorate voting with their moral compasses rather than their pocketbooks.
“As this election cycle swings into its final phase, once again we are the seeing that the latest headlines are not always indicative of what is actually happening in the global print and electronic media, on the Internet and throughout the Blogosphere. As in 2004, those paying too much attention to the ‘24 Hour News Cycle’ are apt to miss the larger trends that will play a decisive role in the outcome of this election”, said Paul JJ Payack, President and Chief Word Analyst of the Global Language Monitor.
The complete list of Top Political Buzzwords, Ranking, and commentary follows.
| PQI Oct 7, 2008 | Comment | |
| Rank | ||
| 1 | Change | No 1 for the entire election Cycle; good bet for Word of the Year |
| 2 | Climate Change | Bigger than ‘Bailout’ bigger than ‘Recession’ |
| 3 | Bailout | Not even on the radar 90 days ago |
| 4 | Recession | World economy imploding but still not officially a ‘recession’ |
| 5 | Experience | Obama’s experience questioned 2.4 X more than that of Palin |
| 6 | Gasoline | Though prices are dropping, still No. 5 |
| 7 | Subprime | How we got into this mess in the first place |
| 8 | Obama Muslim Connection | A persistent topic in Cyberspace; up 7 spots |
| 9 | Gender | Up 12 spots; more of an issue than ‘race’ |
| 10 | Surge | One of the Top Words from ‘07 moving up ‘ 08 chart |
| 11 | Obama smoking | Surpirse here; more recognition than one might anticipate |
| 12 | “That one” | Has spurred the Obama base with ‘I’m for That One’ slogans |
| 13 | Lipstick | Any talk of Lipstick seems to spur McCain-Palin base |
| 14 | Al Qaeda | Always lurking beneath the surface |
| 15 | Price of oil | A weaker issue as price declines |
| 16 | Race | Falls from No. 4 in earlier survey as gender gains |
| 17 | Internet fundraising | Loses some luster as it becomes normal (down 8 spots) |
| 18 |